With an iPad sold every 3 seconds, totalling over 2m units to date it is certainly popular. A lack of USB port, a camera and being limited to 32GB should provide scope for competition. However the iPad does have three winning assets, being an ‘Apple’ product, usability and availability of apps. If we had to squeeze a forth we’d go for astute pricing (astute marketing falls under ‘Apple’). The iPad has seemingly steam-rolled the Kindle - which is almost half its price at $259 - so is there anyone else left?

Something a little smaller perhaps? Dell recently released their Android Powered Streak but to mixed reviews. Whilst having a multitude of features, a reliance on older version of Android and usability hampers it for now.

Something a little bigger? The Kno is seemingly two A4 sized tablets joined at the hip. It can handle Flash and is set to replace textbooks, but bigger does not appear better just yet.

Something more powerful? The forthcoming 1.66GHz 2Gb Ram MSI Wind seems to be more powerful but will it be more popular. Sony, Nokia and HP among others will be releasing competitors that will probably be more powerful but will they really take a bite out of Apple? Can they beat Apple on usability, apps or price?

Something more flexible and robust? Rupert Murdoch is on the charge to reverse the trend and make people pay for content. He has done it for the WSJ and FT, and is now looking at the Times. Murdoch is trying to buy full control of BSkyB and has just bought the flexible and durable e-reader Skiff (above). Along with the purchase of micro-payment service Journalism Online, Murdoch is gearing up to control of content, delivery and payment... 

Microsoft’s Courier seemed the one most likely to compete but it won’t even make it to market now. Whilst the iPad won’t replace your phone or your laptop it is seemingly still too far ahead of the competition... and that’s not counting the apple boffins securely locked away in Cupertino working away on the next generation iPad! For me, for now the Netbook probably remains the biggest competition but I will be following Murdoch very closely

Once again Steve Jobs launched the latest iPhone 4G at WWDC, and it is certainly impressive:

New Look & Feel: 24% thinner than the iPhone 3GS – that’s less than 1cm thick! There’s also a Front Facing Camera which will allow Face to Face - Facetime - video calling, although only on 4G to 4G via wifi for now. A new Stainless Steel Band will improve the antennae for WiFi, 3G and Bluetooth reception. There’s also a second noise reducing microphone and promises of a case

Retina Display: increases pixels to 326 per inch, more than the eye can see. Sharpens text and improve resolution. This should also improve the Phone as a gaming device.

New Processor: New Apple designed A4 1 Ghz chip (same as iPad and similar to latest Android phones), which improves talk-time by 40%. Extra processing power will also help handle multiple apps

Gyroscope: together with the accelerometer and compass this allows six axis motion sensing. You will be able to control games by waving the handset

New HD Camera: 5MP camera with LED flash, 5x digital zoom and HD (720p) 30 frames per second video recording. Videos can be edited using iMovie on the iPhone

Software:iPhone OS4 becomes iOS to reflect other devices. It will be available free on June 21^st. For the first time you’ll be able to run multiple apps and improved email threads.

iBookstore will also be introduced with the hope of doing for books what app-store and iTunes have done for apps and music respectively. iBookstore will handle PDFs

Price: 3G $99, 4G (16GB) $199 and 4G (32GB) $299 – these are US prices and do not include contract costs. It is still tied to AT&T in the US but will come out in the US, UK and six other countries on June 24^th, the other 80 countries will have to wait till the end of September. Pre-orders open 15th June.

It didn’t all go swimmingly for the master presenter, as Steve Jobs suffered a technical hitch (all been there, but now we can say “it happens to Steve Jobs too”) when demonstrating the new download speeds. Steve had to repeatedly ask the audience to cut off their wifi. Expect repercussions.  A number of other announcements were made:

• 5bn app downloads to date, with the last 2b in just over 4 months
• $1bn has been returned to app developers
• Apple will sell the 100millionth iPhone OS device this month (includes iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch)
• 2m iPads have been sold to date, equating to 1 every 3 seconds

The full keynote is now available via www.apple.com

From a games perspective the new retina screen, gyroscope and improved processor make for exciting new opportunities. Although with the HD camera, more accurate GPS it looks like Alternate Reality Gamers may be the real winners. The leading Google phones have similar processors, good batteries and can handle multitasking already, so in some respects Apple was catching up. Of course with apps, screen resolution, features and compatibility Apple remain in front. Steve has set the marker down again for competitors, developers and users… exciting times!

What is advergaming?

“Is the practice of using custom branded or sponsored video games to advertise a product, service, organization or viewpoint”

First mentioned in 2000 by Anthony Giallourakis, it is essentially advertising through a video game. However even video game is a misnomer as the majority of games are now played online or on your mobile.

But aren’t games just for teenage boys?

It is an often relayed misconception. However the average age of a gamer in the United States is 35. Furthermore the average player on Facebook games is a 43 year old woman. A recent survey in NI found that 46% of primary 7 (age 10/11) year olds played online games, with 93% of them having a mobile phone. In terms of online use, within the next two years Games will replace email as the second most popular activity online behind social media. Games are fun and have global appeal. Crucially games are easy to go viral, with players frequently wanting to challenge family and friends.

Ok, but I still don’t know one end of the Xbox from the other – so why is advergaming important?

You may not be a gamer, but you have probably paid for a game at some time for others or most certainly know someone who is a gamer. The most important point to remember is that you don’t have to be a core gamer to play games. More and more people play games on a casual basis as when it suits them. Who hasn’t played snake on their phone, angry birds on their iPhone or Tetris on some format? Who hasn’t been emailed a link to online game that takes only a few seconds to play but becomes instantaneously addictive?

Games are hard to avoid on Facebook. With the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS millions of families regularly play games together. Globally games are bigger than the film or music industry. Including hardware sales in 2008, the games industry was bigger than the film and music industry put together in the UK

Ok, so what forms of advergaming are there?

In above-the-line advergaming, a company will provide interactive games on its website or distribute the game free with its products. Customers are then enticed on to the company’s website to play the game and/or become more aware of the product. Increasingly the product will play a role in the game. In game ads are normally obvious (e.g. during transitions, banners, etc).

Below-the-line advergaming is more stealth in nature. Akin to clever product placement, for example pitchside ads in sports games or billboard ads in car racing or role player games. Alternatively the advertiser sponsors a congratulations screen or displays promotional material after a player manages to complete a game. Post completion advergaming is generally associated with public messages (e.g. aid army recruitment or to educate people on major issues)

With through- the-line games, people interact with links, websites, and promotional material outside the game, for example Alternate Reality Games (ARGs).  Gamers do not have to interact with TTL advergaming but doing so provides for greater game experience for users and increased engagement for advertisers.

Ok, but can advertisers generate engagement and make money?

As the old adage goes the only applications to make money are “Games, Gambling & Girls”. Facebook was initially set up by Mark Zuckerbergto to rate the yearbook pictures of girls at Harvard University. However it now relies on advertising and games as a revenue model. The biggest advertiser on Facebook is Zynga, the makers of the Farmville game. Farmville attracts 31m users per day, a level of engagement beyond the wildest dreams of any marketer. Not only do games attract users, but they also attract revenue. Facebook and Zynga recently signed a strategic partnership allowing Facebook Credits to be the new game currency on Facebook. If Facebook with almost 500m users - many spending an hour a day on the site – rely heavily on games, your business should consider it too.

Are there any successful examples of Advergaming outside of Facebook?

From Coke creating “Pepsi Invaders” in 1983 to Barack Obama using adverts in Madden Football 09 as part of his election campaign, advergaming plays a crucial role in getting your message across. Advergaming has moved on from addidas and Vodafone billboards appearing in FIFA Football games to becoming an integral part of a wider campaign. Today few major film releases or product launches release without a dedicated online marketing campaign and game.

Why target iPhone Games in particular?

Perhaps the most successful example has been Barclays who tied in their recent TV ad campaign featuring a water slide with an iPhone Game. The iPhone Game had 10m downloads around the world and was the most popular game in several countries. Smartphones are the fastest growing sector within the mobile industry and are expected to account for 1 in 4 phones in 2010. Smartphone users are often more affluent representing a key target market for advertisers.. iPhone users are again more affluent, more technically proficient in using their phone’s features and represent the ideal gateway into wider mobile advergaming. iPhone users spend on average 5 mins a day playing games. In addition advergames developed for the iPhone can also work instantaneously on the iPod Touch (very popular among young people) and the iPad (popular among professionals).

How is advergaming in smartphone and handheld games distributed?

Modern mobile app-stores (e.g. Apple App-Store, Google’s Android Marketplace, Nokia Ovi Store, etc) allow games to be easily distributed (‘downloaded’) free of charge to millions of consumers simultaneously around the globe. Apple alone has had 4 billion app downloads in under two years, with Games being by far the most popular form of apps. Of course this can also be done on much smaller and more targeted scale. As well as being significantly more engaging, advergaming is also significantly more cost-effective than other traditional forms of advertising.

All very good but where’s the stats?

People spend 3 mins on the average online advergame, (Contests2Win, Jan 2010)

In game advertising was five times more effective at raising brand awareness than TV advertising. (NeoEdge, Mar 2009)

Advergaming improves:

(Neilson Entertainment, Jan 2007)

Games are the most popular mobile apps, by volume and by revenue on the app-stores. They also allow for repeat visits to a website, product mentions on social media (e.g. posting high score) and securing valuable customer data. Best of all, customers choose to interact with a game and to share that game with friends.

So where do I find out more?

Wee Man Studios can create simple 2D games to more complex 3D mobile games. We can develop one off games or games as part of a wider marketing strategy. We don’t use big words or charge big fees. Be one step ahead of the competition and give us a call today.